Table 1.

Primary and secondary explanatory variables and how these map to the study conceptual framework (http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/10/147)

Primary explanatory variables 1
Household infrastructure function. Two measures: Number of HLP components required for healthy living practices failed; Overall Surveyor Function Score
Secondary explanatory variables
Carer socio-demographic	Child health and health behaviour and hygiene	Carer socioeconomic status and financial stress 3	Psychosocial and health
Community of residence2	Child Health4	Carer highest level of schooling	Other people from tribal group live in community2
Carer socio-demographic3	Number of illnesses in carer’s children in past two weeks		Frequency of visits to traditional land3
• sex		Carer labour force status	Number of people get help from if has serious worries2,3
• age			Carer self-reported health7
• cohabitation with spouse	Health behaviour, hygiene and day care	Household material wealth	Carer Negative Life Events2,3
			• Worried about someone sick/disabled
Carer relationship to householder		Householder holds important position in community	• Know someone who had a bad accident
Time that carer has lived in the house	Broom, mop and bucket in house4		• Death of family member or close friend
Carer mobility between communities (lived in other community for more than 4 weeks)	Soap in bathroom, kitchen5
Number of children cared for	Household hygienic condition (surveyor condition score)6	Financial security	• Member of family in jail or sent to jail
• aged less than one year		• Ran out of money in last 2 weeks
• aged 1–3 years	Number of children in day-care3		• Too many people living in one house
• aged 4–7 years		• Ran out of money in last year
• aged 8 to 15 years			• Worried about divorce/separation
Number of adults in house		• Number of things did to get money if ran out
			• Not able to get a job
		• Raise $2000 in a week for emergency	• Lost their job/sacked
			• Alcohol or drug problems
			• Seeing fights and people beaten up
			• Someone being abused or victim of violent crime
			• Trouble with police
			• Gambling problems
			• Racism

Community level influences: crowding, general condition of housing stock, community environmental conditions and infrastructure, availability of community facilities, community safety (community level concerns based on data items from the Negative Life Events Scale: concerns about fights or violence, abuse or trouble with the police).

Variables mapped to conceptual framework (http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/10/147).

¹Facilities for Healthy Living Practices; ²Community and Neighbourhood Influences; ³Household Composition and Process; ⁴Child Health; ⁵Software; ⁶Condition of Household Environment; ⁷Carer Health.